Oronoco Gold Rush Days 2010 - Part 2

The Goods...

Jewelry and Design Elements

Love the above pieces that I purchased for my vintage redesign business on Friday at the Oronoco Flea Market.  I paid a bit more than I would of liked to, but they were such great pieces, so went for it.  The two neutral colored pairs of earrings were from a 100 year old ladies estate.  Loved the patina on the bracelet, and the colors of these pieces, well lets just say they go with the European Romantic feel that I strive for in most of my designs.

Adored this cute little four leaf clover glass bottle stopper that I found in a junk box at the key guys booth.  Thanks Robyn for the heads up on these fun finds.

This gentleman had the cooooolest keys!  Robyn and I had a blast picking and choosing each of our own styles from his vast collection.  And they were a good deal tooooo.  How good?  I can't tell....

Gorgeous patina on this coin will be turned into a charm soon.

Loved these six keys and the special details they each have on them.

So cool!

Love the detailing on this key...

A beautiful religious charm...

Gorgeous blues on this vintage sweater clip and a cool chain section too.

#8 anyone???

Cool grunge on the "K" token.

During a 15 minute rain storm I was able stand under a tent filled with jewelry only. :)  Sorted through a junk plastic bin and came away with these treasures.  The dealer sold it for one lump some.  A good deal, not sure yet, but there are some cool elements to work with.

Details of the above photo.  Found some great beads, vintage bead caps, charms and misc.

This will be used in a personal design for myself.  It's a Mexican coin, and from the year I was born.  Ooops, now you know my age...as if I care. :)

Architectural Display Pieces and Hardware Finds

Before Photos:

The white architectural wood pieces were a gift from a vendor.  Thank you Cindy!

Love, love, love these treasures of vintage hardware I found to purchase.  Dirty, grungy, and ohhhh, so cool. Stop in at Junk Bonanza to see what I'm doing with them.

Loved the patina on these three hinges, so they came home with me too.  Stop in and check out my space at Junk Bonanza to find out where they end up and are given a new lease on life.

  After Photos:

I spent Saturday morning washing, air drying outside, and than poly coating all of these pieces to protect the customers clothes from any messes.  Now, they're ready to use and design with.

Washed up, dried and treated with a clear coat.

Love designing with these, but they are hard to find.  I hit the jackpot on Friday for these.

Notice the coolness of these.

Gorgeous patina on this one...

Love, love, love these babies.

Washed, dried, sprayed and ready to go.....

Chippy patina is divine.

So cool...

Thrill of the hunt!!!

Love this crusty hinge...

Another awesome patina on a hinge.

A very cool hinge with great patina.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Now plan to stop on over at the Junk Bonanza event in 3 weeks to see what I create with all of these new found treasures.  Show dates are Sept. 16, 17 and 18 at Canterbury Downs.  Check out this link to learn more.  It's going to be a great show!

Oronoco Gold Rush Days 2010 - Part 1

Yesterday, I went for the day to Oronoco Gold Rush Days a well known Minnesota Flea Market/Antique Show in Oronoco, MN.  We left in the morning from the Elk River area and made our way down to the show to avoid some of the early morning rush.  I rode along with three friends that have been vendors with me at the French Flea for quite some time and are all veteran dealers, a hoot to hang out with and we had such a fun time.  It was a great group to go with.  Thanks John, for driving and getting us there and back safe and sound.

The above piece of vintage hardware was one of my favorite things I saw at the Flea Market event.  It was priced at $22 and just has such beautiful patina on it.  Love it!  No, I didn't buy it...

Beth and John walking one of the streets between some of the vendors

The town is transformed into a giant antique show and flea market from Friday - Sunday each year in August on this week-end.  What a well worth event to attend!  It is free to the public and the parking is minimal.

Beth, the owner of Downtown Antiques in Elk River and John, her right hand helper of her business were two of the people I spent the day with.  What a fun day we all had together, and what a riot these two friends are.  All of the group I traveled with were helpful with directing me to good values and finds for my business.

Robyn was our other shopper that traveled with our group.  She and I hung out quite a bit and she was a great help with finding some vintage redesign pieces for my jewelry business.  She found me a great key vendor as well as another vendor that had just cleaned out a 100 year old ladies estate.  Thanks my friend!

Robyn and I really enjoyed this couple that had a great variety of archictectural elements and hardware.

Robyn shopping and finding a few treasures.

I love the old hardware...

Great design elements...

The two pieces that came home with me.

Lots of cool vintage pieces.

Have to have good food to keep shopping and a time to enjoy some vendor food.  I heard a couple of my group also just had to have the famous homemade ice cream bars too.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3 of the Oronoco 2010 experience.  Part 2 will be a showcase of my finds, and Part 3 will feature the 2nd Annual Blog Fest as well as a surprise Camera Crew visit to the Blog Party.

New Jewelry

Time Stands Still Necklace

(reversible)

SOLD

Front

Back

Complete Necklace

#88 Race Car Necklace

SOLD at FF

#88, First Prize and petite red race car

Close-up shot of details

Vintage Clock Face Necklace

SOLD

This face is an original clock face that I poured resin over to make it glass like.  The vintage key has been treated with resin and the charm was created and poured with resin as well.

Vintage Cross Necklace

SOLD

Vintage Delicate Necklace with Eiffel Tower Resin Image

SOLD

Silver Three Strand Watch Necklace

(reversible)
AVAILABLE

Ivory Watch Face with gold sparrow

White Enamel Side with PARIS

Gold/Pearls/Ivory Enamel Pocket Watch Face

(reversible)

SOLD

Front:

Ivory Enamel Vintage Pocket Watch Face

(this is the only Ivory enamel watch face I've come across)

Back:

Grunge style pocket watch face with gold bird

(love this look)

Lightweight feel to the gold and pearl chain.  Easy to wear.

This is a cool necklace.

Some of these are available to purchase.  Contact me if interested at: gretchen.schaumann@comcast.net.

"At Peace" and "Show me the Way"

Good morning to all of my blogging friends out in blogland.  These photos on this post are ones I took this past Saturday early evening while out at our cabin.  It rained and than suddenly appearing around dinner time was this gorgeous double rainbow.  I don't remember another time in my life that I've witnessed a complete rainbow such as this.  What a cool experience!  The foreground is a parking area in front of our cabin and than our land runs down past the far end grove of trees past the light green lawn expanse.

My camera didn't captivate just how intense this rainbow was, but I'm sure as I learn my new camera if I ever see another double rainbow it will be photographed better the next time.  There is something calming about a rainbow to me, as I've always been raised with the biblical meaning of rainbows and it being God's promise to never again flood the earth.  To me it means more than that.  It is a symbol of His majestic power, and his caring enough for us His followers to give us something of such beauty to view and enjoy.

I recently met Karen, a new friend that happens to be a new jewelry customer and she shared something that she does each day as she starts her day.  She asks God to "show me the way".  I just love these four simple words she uses and asked if I could share it in a blog post.  The rainbow, God's promise and the "show me the way" phrase have brought peace to me this past week, as I change some things up in my life.

I am trying to be less busy in my life, more in the moment, available to my daughter, Emily (turning 16 in September), and take some time to just relax and enjoy life.  My life has become so revolved around creating jewerly, that I take it every week-end with me when we go up to our cabin, just to keep up, and life shouldn't be like that.  So I have recently given up my space as a vendor at the monthly events at the French Flea in a nearby town.  I am relieved, but yet sad as I loved the customers, the venue, the interaction with people, but feel like too much of my creative energy was being zapped with the commitments that went along with my being involved.  So for now, I will be just doing a few large events per year, and will try to sell more off my blog and have things available to purchase in this way.

I am looking forward to the Junk Bonanza show in September the 16, 17 and 18 at Canterbury Downs in Shakopee, MN.  I will have a jewelry booth space inside this year.

I also have the AA/JMS event October 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 at Art and Architecture in Minneapolis, MN where I will also have a jewelry space as a vendor at this fabulous show.

Plan to visit me at one of these two shows.  They are both fabulous venues and I'm so thankful to be a part of each of these events.

I hope you are finding peace in your life today.  I can't always say that I have or do, but this week I am certain that my recent changes and choices are the right ones for me personally.  There is just a certain peace and calmness that I've not felt for a long time.  "Show me the way, Lord."

Check out "Crescendoh"

Good Morning!  I am excited to share that on July 25, 2010, Kelli Perkins a Guest Curator on Jenny Doh's new website Crescendoh featured a link to my blog as an inspriational post.  The post she chose to feature was one that I did as a tutorial on how to make over an ugly mannequin into a useful display piece.  You can find that original tutorial here, which she chose to feature as part of her guest feature.  This display piece for my jewelry was one of my favorite non-jewelry projects that I've created, and it is so fun for me to have others appreciate it and enjoy it too.  The below photos show the before and after stage of this redo and the tutorial gives step by step illustrations and photos of her redo.

 

                                                    Before                                        After

Many of you may recognize the name, Jenny Doh, as she has been the Editor-in-Chief for the wonderful Somerset Magazine series for years, and is a talented artist as well, she recently began this wonderful site as a support to artists, their art they create and their stories about how they came to be artisians and how art has saved them as individuals.  The website is a treasure trove of inspiration and filled with great stories and links.

              One of these stories is about a gal named Kelli Perkins, and she just so happened to be inspired by my above blog post tutorial, and asked to feature it as part of her feature.  I'm so honored.  To read about Kelli Perkins as a Guest Curator, and also the link she created to my blog, you may find it here.  Scoll quite a ways down into the page to find it on the right side of Kelli's feature.  Thank you Kelli for including me and honoring my blog in this way. 

Mixed Metals Design

00002

Mixed Metal Necklace

$59.00 (SOLD)

The focal on this piece is a mixture of metal tones and makes this necklace a fun overall necklace.

Many fun and unique elements have been used in its design.

It is a generous length.

Details of some of the fun elements I've chosen to use to create this one-of-a-kind design.

Lovely detailing in this vintage key and wire-wrapped elements.

More elements.

Religious medal of Jesus always there to remind you of your faith.

I'm joining in on the White Wednesday fun blogging party with this post.  Thank you to Kathleen at Faded Charm for once again hosting this party.